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Inside Sports
Runners con¬ tinue iidnning season
—page 9
President Bush justifies war
by PrMident George BMh
President of the United States
' If armed men invaded a hom* in this cotutry, killed those in their way, stole what they wanted and then announced the house was now theirs, no one would hesitate about what must be done.
And that is why we cannot hesitate about what must be done halfway around the world in Kuwait.
ThOTe is much in the modem world that is subject to doubts or questions — waahM in shades of gray. But not the brutal aggrea- aion of Saddam Hussein ag^dnst a
"The terror Saddam Hnaaein has imposed upon Kuwait violates every principle of human decern^'*
— Gedrge Bush president of the United States
peaceful^ sovereign nation and its people. It's black and white. The facts are clear. The choice is unambiguous.
Right vs. wrong. The terror Sad¬ dam Hussein has imposed upo^n Kuwait violates every principle oif himian decency. Listen to what Amnesty International has documented: "Widespread abuses of human rights have been perpetrated by Iraqi force8...ar- bitrary arrest and detention without trial of thousands... widespread tortiu-e...imposition of the death penalty and the extra¬ judicial execution of hundreds of unarmed civilians, including children."
Including Children. There's no horror that could make this a more obvious conflict of good vs. evil.
The man who used chemical war¬ fare on his own people-once again including children — now oversees public hangings of dissenters. Dai¬ ly his troops commit atrocities agamat Kuwaiti .^citjsena. This brutality has reverberated throughout the entire world. If we do not follow the dictate of our in¬ ner moral compass and stand up for human life, then his lawless¬ ness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging new world order we now see, this long dreamed of vision we've all work¬ ed toward for so long.
A year after the joyous dawn of freedom's light in Eastern Europe, a dark evil has descended in another part of the world. But e have the chance and we have tue obligation — to stop ruthless
aggressitm.
I have been in war. I have known the terror of combat. And I teU you this with all my heart: I don't want there to be a war ever again. I am determined to do ab¬ solutely everything possible in the search for a peaceful resolution to this crisis — but only if the peace is genuine, if it rests on principle, not appeasement.
But while we search for that answer, in the Gulf yotmg men and women are putting their own lives on hold in order to stand for peace in our world and for the essential value of human life itself. Many are yoimger than my own children. Your age, most of them. Doing tough duty for something they believe in.
Let me tell you about one of the soliders over there, S.F.C. Terry Hatfield, a young man from Georgia. He sent me a Christmas card. And thu is what he wrote.
"Mr. - President, I just wanted you to know my soldiers and I are ready to do whatever mission you decide. Freedom as we know and enjoy has been taken away from another country and must be restored^ Although we are separated ^rom family, friends, loved ones, we will do what must be dime..,W« stfutd r««j^ and waiting. God Bless you and the U.S.A."
Terry understands the moral obligation that has compelled our extraordinary multinational coali¬ tion to make this stand in the Gulf. To look this international terrorist straight in the eye and say: no concessions. To proclaim for now and for the fact that ag¬ gression will not be rewarded.
Terry waits thousands of miles froi.1 the White House, yet we share the; same thoughts. We desperately want peace. But we know that to reward aggression
"There are times in life where we confront values worth fighting for"
—George Bush
would be to end the promise of oiu* New World Order. To reward ag¬ gression would be to destroy the United Nations' promise as inter¬ national peace keeper. To reward aggression would be to condone the acts of those who would desecrate the promise of human life itself.
And we will do none of this. There are times in life where we confront values worth fighting for. This is one such time.
Each day that passes means another day for Iraq's forces to dig deeper into their stolen land. Another day Saddam Hussein can work toward building his nuclear arsenal and perfecting his chemical and biological weapons capability. Another day for Amnesty International to docu¬ ment. Another day of interna¬ tional outlaws, instead of interna¬ tional law.
I ask you to think about the economic devastation that Sad¬ dam Hussein would continue to wreak on the world's emerging democracies if he were in control of one-fifth of the world's oil reserves. And to reflect on the terrible threat that a Saddam Hus¬ sein armed with weapons of mass destruction already poses to human life and to the future of all nations.
Together, as an America united against these horrors, we can, with
Thein Wah was among the many people protesting the United States Involvement in the Middle East.
our coalition partners, ensure that this aggression is stopped aiid the principle on which this nation and the rest of the civilized world are founded are preserved.
And so let us remember and sup¬ pose Terry Hatfield, all our fine
Amnesty International questions letter
servicemen and women, as they stand ready on the frontier of freedom, willing to do their duty and do it well. They deserve our complete and enthusiastic support — and lasting gratitude.
I
by John G. Healey
Executive Director of Amnesty International USA
Clear facts. Black and white. Unambiguous choice. These are the terms President Bush used in the letter he sent to over 450 col¬ lege and tmiversity newpapers last week. The subject was Iraqi oc¬ cupation of Kuwait. The object was to prepare yoimg people for military confrontation in the Per¬ sian Gulf.
The letter cited Amnesty Inter¬ national's recent r^ort on Iraq as evidence to support the ad¬ ministration's position. Perhaps presidential advisers know that Amnesty volunteer groups are now active on more than 2,600 campuses in this country. I hope the administration will soon learn that Amnesty members and other student activists cannot be misled by opporttmistic manipulati<» of the international human rights movement.
Amnesty published its rqxirt on the Iraqi Government's gross human rights violations for one purpose: to advance the inx>tecti(m of himuui rights. By publicizing such abuses, the movement genn^ ates public pressiu^ and intona- tional protest. Governments over the years have channeled par¬ ticular pcMticms of Amnesty's find¬ ings into their political agendas, and government authorities im- doubtedly will continue to do so in
the future. But the United States public should not tolerate selective indignation by its own govern¬ ment. We can teach oiu- political leaders that peof^'s human rie^ts are not convenient issues for rhetorical arsenals.
Whffli taken at face value. Presi¬ dent Bush's condemnati<» of tor¬ ture and pcrfitical killings by Iraqi authorities appears laudable. Violations of basic human rights shotild arouse indignation and in¬ spire action to stop them. The matter becomes less "clear" and "unambiguous," howevra*, in the light of two questions: Why did OIU- Presidoit remain mute on the subject of the Iraqi Government's patterns of severe human ri^ts
abuses priw to August 1990? Why does he remain mute about abuses conunitted by other governments, our so-called coalition partners in the region?
Iraqi soldiers' behavior in Kuwait does not constitute a sud¬ den shift to the brutal side. Iraqi civilians have suffered such cruel
might not be digging in for war to¬ day. Tomorrow's tensions in the region may well be mapped by the human rights records of our long- term "friends," such as the Saudi Arabian Government, and new¬ found "friends." such as the Syrian Government. We've heard little from the United States
"Exploiting human rights to justify violent con¬ frontation is itself indecent**
—John G. Healey executive director of Amnesty In¬ ternational USA
and degrading treatment by govemm^t personnel for more than a decade, us detailed in numerous Amnesty International reports. There was no presidential indignation, for example, in 1989, whm Amnesty released its fin¬ dings about the torture of Iraqi duldren. And just a fi^w weeks before the invasion of Kuwait, the Bush Administration refused to coDclude that Iraq had engaged in a consistent pattern of gross human rights violations.
If United States policies before August 1990 had reacted concern about the Iraqi Govemmmt's human rights record, our country
Govonment in recent years about the appalling tactics of repression used in Saudi Arabia and Syria.
Torture is reportedly a common practice in Saudi Arabia, and political detainees have been jail¬ ed there for prolonged periods with' t charge or trial. S)rrian iniscmtirs are routinely tcntured. A majority of the thousands of p<ditical prisoners held in Syria have been d«iMd their right to a triaL
Relentless and ruthless abuses by the Iranian Government con¬ tinue. More than 5,000 Iranians have been executed diuing the last three years. Incommunicado
detention and torttire are routine in Morocco, and that country's govenmient persists in responding to "disappearances" with secrecy and silence. Oiu- government fails to act with determination against the torture suffered by tens of thousands of prisoners held in Turkish jails.
The Egyptian Government has subjected many thousands of political prisoners to detention without charge or trial. The tor¬ ture of political prisoners, especial¬ ly supporters of Islamic groups op¬ posing the government, is reportedly common in Egjrpt. In the Israeli Occupied Territories, thousands of Palestinians have been detained without charge or trial. Many of the detainees com¬ mitted the "offense" of peaceful¬ ly exercising their ri^ts to free ex¬ pression and association. IsraeU troops, often engaging in ex¬ cessive use of force, have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
President Bush's selective in¬ dignation over Iraq's abuses in Kuwait imdermines the norms of "human decency" he touts in his letter to campus newspapers. AU people in all countries are aititled to human rights protection: inter¬ national hiunanitarian standards rest upon this principle. The stan¬ dards are unequivocally pr«;tical, because htmian rif^ts protection establishes a foimdation for just, peaceful, stable order. Exploiting
"We can teach our political leaders that people*8 human rights are not convenient issues for rhetorical arsenals."
— JoJ^n G. Healey
human rights to jusiiiy violent confrontation is itself indecent.
Anmesty International Fakes no position on the territorial disputes now raging in the Persian Gulf. But we do support international coalition building to prevent all egregious human rights violators ^ from conducting business as usual If President Bush is sincere about "desperately want(ing) peace" and if he wishes to remove ambigu from his invocation of "moral agation," then let him be consistent in his concern for human ri^ts.
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^Xc3S tecti(m of himuui rights. By publicizing such abuses, the movement genn^ ates public pressiu^ and intona- tional protest. Governments over the years have channeled par¬ ticular pcMticms of Amnesty's find¬ ings into their political agendas, and government authorities im- doubtedly will continue to do so in
the future. But the United States public should not tolerate selective indignation by its own govern¬ ment. We can teach oiu- political leaders that peof^'s human rie^ts are not convenient issues for rhetorical arsenals.
Whffli taken at face value. Presi¬ dent Bush's condemnati